Why does Chihuahua like licking a lot at bedtime?

Puppy won’t sleep until he has licked his owner from head to toe and back again. What can she do to make him reduce the licking?

DEAR JOAN >> Every night before bedtime, my Chihuahua puppy insists on licking me to death before he’ll go to sleep. If I try to hold him back he gets mad and bites me. If I get up and don’t let him lick me, then he refuses to go to sleep.

I don’t mind being licked a little if it helps him sleep, but he really licks me a lot — my arms, tummy, legs, feet and back. I’m not sure why he is so persistent about it. Once he is done licking, he will go to sleep for the night.

I got him at 7 weeks old. The lady sold all her puppies at that age. I didn’t know if it was too young to be taken from his mum.

What advice or anything can you tell me about why my puppy is doing this and how I can maybe get him to lick me less? — Star, Bay Area

DEAR STAR >> Your puppy licks you because he loves you, and he also enjoys the activity.

The first sensation a puppy feels at birth is that of his mother’s tongue. In turn, he will lick his mom and his siblings, who also lick him. It’s both an instinctive and a learned behavior, and a puppy feels comforted from all that licking.

I’m not sure how much being taken from his mom at 7 weeks is playing into this, but it might contribute to it. However, dogs see nothing wrong with licking, even if we see it as excessive. The problem here is that you need to assert yourself and let your puppy know that while you love him and appreciate his affection, you get to decide when enough is enough.

When you tire of his evening licking session, sternly say no and push him away. If he won’t stop, then leave the bedroom, sharply closing the door behind you. Stay out for 20 to 30 seconds, then come back in. If he starts up again, go back out.

Don’t shout at him or spank him. Just let him know you’re in charge.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but most dogs are bright and will get the message. You also can give him a substitute — a stuffed animal — to lick instead.

DEAR JOAN >> I have a variety of feeders in my yard — seed, suet, hummer and squirrel — and have gotten so much pleasure and a lot of giggles watching the antics of the visitors.

Included in my collection of feeders is a peanut ring and two squirrel boxes, which I fill with peanuts and the squirrel food mix from the local bird store. The mix contains corn. After reading your column about not feeding squirrels peanuts and corn, I’m confused on what to do.

I only fill my feeders once a week — too expensive to do more — and I always wipe out and dry the squirrel boxes after it rains when I add fresh food. The squirrels compete with scrub jays for the peanuts in the ring, and it’s usually emptied within hours. DEAR BARBARA >> I’m sorry for any confusion I caused. Eating corn and peanuts won’t hurt the squirrels, but they shouldn’t have a steady diet of them. It’s sort of like if we ate nothing but ice cream and potato chips. Including them in a mixed diet is fine, and as long as the corn doesn’t mold, you’re good to go.

One reader did ask me to tell folks not to feed peanuts, which can be carried out of your yard by squirrels and birds, and could end up in the yard of someone with a peanut allergy.